Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the underlying cause of about one of every three deaths in United States each year. Likewise, about 34% of American adults are suffering from one or more types of CVD. In 2010, the total direct and indirect cost of CVDs was approximately $503 billion.
Certainly, there is an urgent need to develop new methods and devices for diagnosing and monitoring CVDs. Diagnosis enables early intervention and remediation. Monitoring may be a useful tool in each of behavior modification and prediction/avoidance of an acute event leading to emergency hospitalization, morbidity and/or mortality. New methods and devices to meet these need(s) advantageously employ noninvasive measurements to reduce medical complications and increase patient comfort. Ideally, they are also easy to use by medical personnel and subjects in a home environment.